A nurse from Swindon Hospital conducted unnecessary intimate examinations on children for sexual gratification
Ashley Boyd also known as Rhys Cronin, a Band 5 adult nurse at Great Western Hospital in Swindon, has been struck off the nursing register after a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness-to-practise panel found he carried out unnecessary testicular examinations on child patients for his own sexual gratification.
Boyd qualified as an adult nurse in July 2019. He worked at the hospital from 2019 until early 2024. Although not a qualified children’s nurse, he requested and was regularly rostered to work as a triage nurse in the Paediatric Assessment Unit and the paediatric area of the emergency department.
His role was limited to gathering basic history and observing vital signs such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Between January and August 2023, Boyd performed intimate examinations—specifically testicular examinations involving touching children’s testicles and inner thighs—on multiple child patients.
These were outside his job description, not clinically indicated, and continued after senior colleagues, including his line manager, had explicitly told him to stop.
Examples included a child presenting with tonsillitis and another who had already been examined and diagnosed by their GP.
He also kept inadequate records and, on one occasion, failed to administer a prescribed nebuliser without consulting the senior clinician who had ordered it.
At a nine-day NMC hearing ending 15 January 2026, which Boyd did not attend, the panel found all charges proved.
Boyd had admitted the examinations were unauthorised and not clinically indicated, that he continued after being told not to, that records were inadequate, and that he failed to give the nebuliser.
The panel additionally found that some or all of the examinations were sexually motivated for sexual gratification, and that continuing after clear instructions was dishonest.
The panel concluded there was no plausible alternative explanation given the repeated nature of the conduct, the lack of clinical justification, and the instructions he had received.
NMC case presenter Simran Ghotra told the hearing that Boyd “performed intimate examinations without clinical justification and for his own desires in pursuit of sexual gratification” and was “well aware of the extreme vulnerability” of the children, taking advantage of his position of trust.
The panel determined Boyd’s fitness to practise was impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds. It imposed a striking-off order, removing him from the nursing register, along with an 18-month interim suspension order during any appeal period. The panel noted limited insight and a risk of repetition.
Great Western Hospital said Boyd was suspended as soon as the allegations came to light in January 2024 and did not work for the trust again. It has since strengthened chaperone training and requires a registered professional chaperone for all paediatric examinations. A spokesperson stated the trust continues to promote a culture in which staff feel confident raising concerns.
Wiltshire Police interviewed Boyd in August 2023 following a hospital investigation. The Crown Prosecution Service advised referring the matter back to the hospital for internal handling. Later reports indicated police were not actively pursuing a criminal investigation.
Boyd had previously served as chair of the hospital’s LGBTQ+ network in 2022 and as the trust’s first Trans Liaison Nurse. He was also chair of Swindon and Wiltshire Pride from September 2022 to March 2023. The Pride organisation stated he had no direct contact with children in that role, left in 2023, and that it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news, with thoughts for those affected and their families.
